Assessment of irrational beliefs: the question of discriminant validity

Previous evaluations of the psychometric properties of available measures of irrational beliefs have failed to examine the discriminant validity of these instruments. The present investigation (N = 142) of the relationship between measures of irrational beliefs and trait anxiety provided evidence of discriminant validity for one frequently used measure of irrational beliefs (Rational Behavior Inventory), but failed to provide such evidence for perhaps the most popular measure of irrational beliefs (Irrational Beliefs Test). Both measures of beliefs were correlated more highly with cognitive features of trait anxiety than with somatic aspects.